By- MOHIT(181313)
Introduction
Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability among all groups of living
organisms and ecosystem complexes in which they occur.
Areas which exhibit high species richness as well as high species endemism are
termed as BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS.
What’s a Biodiversity
Hotspot?
To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict
criteria:
o It must have at least 1,500 vascular plants as endemics — which is to
say, it must have a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else
on the planet. A hotspot, in other words, is irreplaceable.
o It must have 30% or less of its original natural vegetation. In other
words, it must be threatened.
Determination of Hotspots
Factors that usually determine a hotspot:
• The number of total species (species richness).
• The number of unique species (endemism).
• The number of species at risk (threat of extinction).
The 35 Terrestrial Biodiversity
Hotspots
• California floristic province • Eastern Himalaya, Nepal, India
• Madrean pine-oak woodlands • Indo-Burma, India and Myanmar
• Mesoamerica • Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
• Caribbean islands • East Melanesian Islands
• Atlantic forest • New Caledonia
• cerradochilean • New Zealand
• winter rainfall-valdivian forests • Philippines
• tumbes-chocó-magdalena • Polynesia-Micronesia
• Tropical Andes • Eastern Australian temperate forests
• Cape floristic region • Southwest Australia
• Coastal forests of eastern Africa • Sunderland and Nicobar islands of India
• Eastern afromontane Guinean forests of west Africa • Wallace
• Horn of Africa • Mountains of central Asia
• Madagascar and the Indian ocean islands • Japan
• Maputaland-pondoland-albany • Mountains of southwest china
• Succulent Karoo • Caucasus Irano-Anatolian
• Mediterranean basin • Japan
Importance Of Biodiversity
Hotspots
Some of the importance of biodiversity hotspots are:
Maintaining balance of the ecosystem: Recycling and storage of nutrients, combating pollution,
and stabilizing climate, protecting water resources, forming and protecting soil and maintaining
ecobalance.
Provision of biological resources: Provision of medicines and pharmaceuticals, food for the
human population and animals, ornamental plants, wood products, breeding stock and diversity
of species, ecosystem genes.
Social benefits: Recreation and tourism, cultural value and education and research.
Management of Biodiversity
Hotspots
Hotspots are not formally recognized or governed areas. However, the identification of
an area as a biodiversity hotspot increases the likelihood of conservation investment. In
addition, other designations for biodiversity conservation are likely to be present within
these broad areas which may have more formal management structures. For example,
the average protected area coverage of hotspots, based on IUCN Protected Area
Management Categories I-VI, is 12% of their original extent.
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is an alliance among seven
nongovernmental and private-sector organizations (including Conservation
International). CEPF provides grants to organizations around the world that are working
to help protect biodiversity hotspots. Biodiversity hotspots are also used by major
foundations and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to target investments in global
conservation.
Threats to Biodiversity
Hotspots
Habitat Destruction: It occurs when enough change has happened to an area that it can no longer
support the natural wildlife. This change can actually be in many forms, including destruction,
fragmentation, and degradation.
Global Climate Change: IT means the difference in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates
over time. It describes changes in the state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from
decades to millions of years.
Habitat Fragmentation: Habitat fragmentation, also known as species fragmentation, is a process
by which large and contiguous habitats get divided into smaller, isolated patches of habitats.
Pollution: It is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse
change.
Over Exploitation: It includes illegal wildlife trade, overfishing, logging of tropical hardwoods etc.
Disease: Reduction in habitat causing high population densities, encourages spread of diseases.
Habitat Destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered unable to support the species
present.
Habitat destruction by human activity is mainly for the purpose of harvesting natural resources for
industrial production and urbanization.
Other important causes of habitat destruction include mining, logging, trawling, and urban sprawl.
Habitat destruction is currently ranked as the primary cause of species extinction worldwide.
Global Climate Change
Climate Change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when
that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years).
Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar
radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions.
Certain human activities have been identified as primary causes of ongoing
climate change, often referred to as global warming.
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can
take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. pollutants, the components of pollution,
can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants.
Types of pollution:
Air pollution
Light pollution
Noise pollution
Littering pollution
Plastic pollution
Soil contamination
Radioactive contamination
Thermal pollution
Visual pollution
Water pollution
Conservation
Priority- Identification of regions under severe threat which is why
hotspots originated.
Protection of areas through establishment of reserves, national
parks, botanical gardens, heritage sites wildlife refuges, etc.
Incentive measures are also essential for conservation.
Regulations and market based tools should also be used.
Increase in new conservation tools and conservation professional
should take or promote any action against biodiversity loss.
Unique projects like saving water, no harm to wildlife, etc. should be
started.